Matthew J. Sharbaugh
How Judge Sharbaugh rules, drawn from 26 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Sharbaugh
Matthew J. Sharbaugh became a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Columbia in October 2024. He earned degrees from Berklee College of Music and Pepperdine University School of Law, practiced civil litigation, and clerked for Judge Robert L. Wilkins.
Judge Sharbaugh's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Sharbaugh's own (checked October 8, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 8, 2026).
How Judge Sharbaugh decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Gary G. v. Bisignano, he upheld the administrative law judge’s treatment of a nurse’s marked-limitations opinion after finding the relative weight given to competing opinions clear.
“the relative weight that the ALJ afforded to each opinion is unmistakable.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Magistrate Judge Sharbaugh recommends that this Court grant Plaintiff’s motion in large part and award $170,009.95 in attorneys’ fees and $2,427.48 in costs.”
“the Report and Recommendation [Dkt. # 18] is ADOPTED in its entirety; it is FURTHER ORDERED that defendant’s motion to expunge criminal record [Dkt. # 13] is DENIED.”
“the undersigned recommends that Plaintiff’s motion for judgment of reversal (ECF No. 7) and the Commissioner’s motion for judgment of affirmance (ECF No. 8) both be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART ... and that the case be REMANDED to the SSA pursuant to sentence four”
“the Commissioner’s motion for judgment of affirmance (ECF No. 8) ... be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART”
“DENY Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 6)”
“GRANT the District’s Cross-Motion (ECF No. 9).”
“For these reasons, the undersigned RECOMMENDS that the Court GRANT IN PART and DENY IN PART both Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 21) and the”
“the undersigned RECOMMENDS that the Court GRANT IN PART CTWF’s motion for partial summary judgment.”
“the undersigned RECOMMENDS that the Court DENY WITHOUT PREJUDICE Sobot’s motion for attorneys’ fees as premature, with leave to refile at the conclusion of the case.”
“The undersigned therefore RECOMMENDS that the Court DENY Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 8)”
“and GRANT the District’s motion (ECF No. 10).”
“the undersigned RECOMMENDS that the Court GRANT IN PART and DENY IN PART both Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 67)”
“and the District’s cross-motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 70).”
“the undersigned RECOMMENDS that the Court GRANT the United States’ application and enter the requested restraining order.”
“Amazon’s motion is GRANTED IN PART, and the Court accordingly ORDERS that the Clerk of Court shall respectfully TRANSFER this case to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division.”
“it declines to reach Amazon’s alternative dismissal arguments under Rule 12(b)(6).”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court DENIES Defendants’ motion to dismiss.”
“the Court DENIES Mr. W’s motion for judgment of reversal (ECF No. 7)”
“and GRANTS the Commissioner’s cross-motion for judgment of affirmance (ECF No. 8).”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
His civil referrals include special-education merits and fee disputes, wage-and-hour fee petitions, Social Security disability appeals, public-records matters, and occasional criminal motions.
Pending matters in the official report
Reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Civil Justice Reform Act, as of March 31, 2026.
| Motions pending more than six months | 2 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 2 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 3 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 2 | 3 |
| Sep 2025 | 6 | 4 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 1 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of United States District Court for the District of Columbia, not for Judge Sharbaugh: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 3,347 | 7.7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 876 | 5.4 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 2,449 | 8.8 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 13 | 53.2 months |
| Closed during trial | 9 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 3,347 | 7.7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 3,290 | 6.2 months |
| Sep 2023 | 3,288 | 4.7 months |
| Sep 2022 | 3,044 | 5.6 months |
| Sep 2021 | 3,408 | 4.8 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,947 | 5.8 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,963 | 5.1 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
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